Stay Positive: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Last summer when we were in Ohio for my daughter's national dance competition in Sandusky, Ohio, we took a trip to Cleveland and had the pleasure of touring the Rock and Roll Hall of Hame. 

It was a fun experience. In fact, if I'm ever in the area again, I'd like to tour that place again. What follows are some photos/highlights from the trip. 

The front entry when we were there featured recent inductees, of which was Pearl Jam, one of my favorite bands. 

Next is Vedder's notebook, which shows a draft of "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town," aka "Small Town," from Vs.

And here's Vedder's vintage typewriter. 

The museum also had a feature exhibit on Mellencamp. Here's a draft of one of my favorite songs of his, "Longest Days."

Of course, they also like to feature the famous attire of the stars. Below of two of Hendrix's fly outfits. 

And what we have here is a draft of the famous "Purple Haze." 

Of course, guitars are going to be featured. It is the rock and roll hall of fame after all. 

Here is the late Chris Cornell's Les Paul. 

That one above and the one below, Cobain's,was in the case featuring Grunge. 

 

Here's one of Marvin Gaye's smooth-ass jackets.

And of course, the Beatles were featured prominently later in the museum. Here's McCartney's jacket from the early days of the band and Lennon's famous t-shirt. 

It was also awesome to see Muddy Waters's guitar and Bootsy Collins's bad-ass bass. 

Ringo's drum kit was one of the few kits featured when we were there. 

At the very end the Hall of Fame featured bands from the Midwest, which there were a lot. One of the highlights of that display for me was the demo tape from The Replacements. Lay it down, Clowns. 

Music Friday: "Brace for Impact (Live a Little)" & "In Bloom"

Sturgill Simpson put out a new album recently, and it's good. 

Here's a couple of tunes from it. The second song is a Nirvana cover. Enjoy. 

Basket Case

It's almost August. While my fantasy baseball team, The Schlitzophrenics, makes its penchant for mediocrity and downright crappiness more acute, my thoughts are getting more focused on college football season.

Heck, what hokum. Even if The Schlitzophrenics were doing great this season, I'd still be thinking about the hopeful glory of college football season, worrying about the how the Tide will do this year, contemplating how Jordan Jefferson might turn into the fine QB that he should be, fearing the wrath of that immobile giant named Ryan Mallett, wondering if the Gators will be better without Weeping Tebow.

A herd of sports writers seems to think the Tide will repeat this season, and I'm not confident about that prospect. Don't get me wrong. I think Alabama will field a strong team this season because of the strength of its offense, which has eight returning starters.

The defense concerns me. How that writerly herd can vote Alabama pre-season number one is odd to me since the Crimson Tide will have only two returning starters on defense. Maybe somewhere in the top ten, but pre-season number one?

When a team has to replace the top three cornerbacks along with its entire starting DLine and kicking specialists, I don't care how much depth a squad has, replacing the experience and skills of those players along with the leadership and football acumen of McClain, Tiffin, Arenas, Jackson, Cody, and Reamer is difficult.

Pontificating about the pre-season rankings makes me a little edgy, so the Million Dollar Band's rendition of "Basket Case" by Green Day seems justifiable for linkage. Click HERE to enjoy that.

Or maybe Nirvana's "Stay Away" is more appropriate for my take on the situation: "Monkey see - monkey do."

Nevermind

Man, now I feel old. I watched a VH1 program about classic albums, and Nirvana's Nevermind was profiled. First, it's the Police being played on classic rock stations, and now this.

That opus came out in '91. I have always enjoyed the album, especially the songs "Lithium, "Stay Away," and "Something in the Way." But, hell, the whole dang thing is solid.

I still listen to grunge because, well, it's damn fine music. Pearl Jam still does good work, and Soundgarden has always had a special place in my troubled soul. The folks who did the profile of the album really showcased how Cobain was quite a singer, much better than I had realized. As a lyricist, he certainly didn't care much for linear structure, and as Dave Grohl pointed out in the program, Cobain's mantra was "the music, then the lyrics."

So while the lyrics are interesting thought-collages, there are songs such as "Breed and "Territorial Pissings" and "Something in the Way" that really connected to lots of folks on a visceral level. Cobain and the lyrics he bore presented the alienation that people felt, and the music rocked.

Thank goodness Nevermind kicked the music business "in the balls," as one person in the program related.